Die apparatus for making files



Sept. 9, 1941, E. B. PERRINE' 2,255,268

A DIE APPARATUS FOR MAKING FILES B. i' e.

Sept. 9, Y1941. E. B'. PERRINE y l 2,255,268

DIE APPARATUS Fl'OR MAKING FILES Filed Feb. 27, A1933 2 Sheets-Sheet. 2

6o v A Fif MM/*Magg Patented Sept. 9, 1941 8 Claims.

My invention relates to die apparatus for making iiles. It relates more particularly to apparatus for making les similar to those disclosed and claimed in my Patent No. 2,055,219, issued September 22, 1936. for a le comprising a body member having at least two sets of teeth with the teeth of one set inclined forwardly and the teeth of another set inclined backwardly and the teeth of the respective sets intermingled to provide cutting action for both forward and backward movement of the file.

One of the objects of this invention is the provision of an apparatus which will accurately and expeditiously make les of the character stated. A further object is to provide an apparatus ernbodying a die provided with forming teeth adapted to bite into a iile blank to form teeth thereon and means whereby said blank and die may be given relative movement lengthwise of the blank when the teeth are in the blank. Another object is to provide an apparatus embodying two coacting dies each provided with forming teeth adapted to bite into opposite surfaces of an interposed iile blank and means whereby said dies may be given relative movement lengthwise of the blank when the teeth are in the blank. Another object is to provide a die having forming teeth adapted to bite into a le blank, one face of each tooth being arranged to cause a shearing action and leY after it has Fig. 3 is a view in section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2 looking in the directionof the arrows,

Fig. 4 is aview in section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 5 is a view in section on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 6 is a perspective View of a side gaug Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view on an enlargement scale showing the teeth of the die ready to bite into a le blank.

Fig. 8 is a View similar to Fig. 7 but showing the teeth of the dies after they have bitten into the ille blank,

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view of the Y been acted upon the rst time by the dies.

Fig. 10 is a View similar to Fig. 8, but showing the le after it has been turned over and again acted upon by the olies.-

Fig. 11 is a plan view of a le after it has been acted upon the rst time by the dies.

Fig. 12 is a plan view of a le after it has been Aacted upon another time by the dies.

Referring to theA particular construction shown in the drawings for purpose of illustration, the numeral I3 designates an anvil member carrying a die plate I4 provided with forming teeth I6 of the character shown in Figs. '7 and 8. The member I3 is supportedonroller bearings I8 carried the opposite face being arranged to cause a swagby a bed 20 which may be Supported in any Suiting action. Another object is to provide a die having forming teeth adapted to bite into a iile blank in combination with a multi-position gauge for varying the positioning of said blank longiable manner. As shown in Fig. 3, the sides 22 of the bed extend upwardly and the lower portion of the member I3 ts between the sides 22. The upper portion of the member I3 is reduced tudinally and means for causing the blank and D0 form Shoulders 24 UDCH Which fit plates 25 die to have relative longitudinal movement lengthwise of the blank when the teeth are in the blank. Another object is to provide an adjustable gauge for the side of the file blank so that adjustment may be made for diierent widths of the blank.

The novel features which I believe to be characteristic of my invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself,`however, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of a specific embodiment when read in connection with the accompanying drawings in which,

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a view mostly in central vertical section.

secured to the bed 2) by screws 28. Resilient means such as a block of rubber 3!) is positioned between the rear wall of the anvil member I3 and a plate 32 secured to the bed 20 by screws 34.

0 The resilient means 30 tends to hold the member I3 against a block 36 toward the front of the apparatus, this block being mounted for sliding movement toward the rear of the apparatus. The front wall of the block is inclined while the 5 rear wall of a block 38 is oppositely inclined so means which will be described later, the anvil I3 with its die plate I4 will be moved rearwardly upon the rollers I8.

A gauge 44 is mounted upon the upper surface of the die I4 at the front thereof and is provided with a recess 46 to receive one end of a le blank F. The gauge 44 is adjustably held on the die I4 by means of a screw 48 turned into the die I 4 and passing through a slot in the gauge. The front of this gauge is turned downwardly to form a front wall 50 containing a perforation through which a screw 52 is turned part Way into the die I4. A spring 54 interposed between the head of the screw 52 and the wall 5D tends to hold the gauge wall 58 toward the front wall of the die I4. A recess in the front portion of the die I4 receives a rod-like member 58 having a plurality of faces disposed at different distances from the axial line of the recess as will be understood from Fig. 5. The member 56 may be given rotative movement by any suitable means such as a handle 58 secured thereto. It is evident from this description that the gauge and its recess 48 constitutes a multi-position gauge for varying the longitudinal positioning of the file blank F.

An adjustable side gauge 60 is secured to the rear of the die by means of a screw 62 passing through a slot 64 of the gauge and turned into the die I4. By loosening this screw, adjustment for different widths of le blanks may be readily made so that the center line of the blank will coincide with the center line of the die.

As shown in Fig. 3, the lower portion of the die I4 is made dovetailed to t into a dovetailed recess in the upper portion of the anvil member I3. In order to firmly hold the die in this recess, a wedge 66 secured therein by a screw 68, engages one side of the dovetailed portion of the die. As shown in Figs. 2 and 4, the front wall of anvil member I3 has an upward projection 'I0 back of which a strip 12 is held by screws 14 turned into the anvil. The front of the die I4 butts adjacent the strip 'I2 whereby the die is prevented from being thrust in forward direc-V tion on the anvil.

A plunger member 'I6 is adapted to be reciprocated vertically in well known manner as by a crank connection I8. The plunger member 'I6 carries a die plate 88 provided with forming teeth 82 of the character shown in Figs. 7 and 8. As shown in Fig. 3, the upper portion of the die 88 is made dovetailedto t into a dovetailed recess in the lower portion of its plunger member 16. In order to firmly hold the die in this recess, a wedge 84 is secured therein by a screw 86 and engages one side of the dovetailed portion of the die. As shown inFigs. 1 and 2, the rear Wall of the die 80 butts against a strip 88. secured by screws 88 turned into the plunger whereby the die 80 is prevented from being thrust in backward direction on the plunger. The reason for providing against backward thrust of the die 88 and forward thrust of the die I4 will become apparent later in connection with a description of the character of the forming teeth I6 and 82. The forward portion of the plunger 'I6 carries a hammer 92 secured to its lower side by screws 84. It is apparent that when the plunger 'i5 descends, the hammer 92 will strike the Wedge 42 as the teeth I6 and 82 are' entering the lower and upper surfaces of the le blank, and the anvil I3 and its die I4 will be thrust in backward direction; The result of this action will later be explained in connection with Figs.

7 and 8. The forward portion of the plunger 'I6 has a downward extension 98 with an inner vertical face to which a plate 88 is secured by screws Ifl. When the teeth of the two dies are starting to enter the upper and lower surfaces 0f the file blank, the plate 98 fits nicely in front of the block 38 so that tendency of the plunger to be thrust toward the rear of the apparatus is resisted. The top of the bed extension 40 is provided with a plate H22 secured thereto by screws I04. The plate H32 serves to determine the extent of downward movement of the plunger 16.

Referring to Figs. 7 and 8 which are greatly enlarged views, it will be seen that the rear faces of the die teeth 82 are much more inclined from a vertical than is the case with the front faces of these teeth. The die teeth I8 are reversely disposed, that is, their front faces are much more inclined from a vertical than the rear faces are. It is to be remembered that while the die teeth are entering the file blank, the anvil I3 and its die I4 are being forced backwardly by the wedge 42, and that the plunger 'I6 and its die 80 are prevented from having any of this backward movement. The front faces of the teeth 82 tend to prevent this backward movement of the le blank while the rear faces 0f the teeth I6 tend to cause backward movement of the le blank. The result is that the file blank will be carried backwardly only half as far as the anvil die travels. The upper and lower die teeth will therefore bite into the le blank in the manner indicated in Fig. '7 by the dotted lines a and b respectively. IThe rear faces of the `plunger teeth 82 will enter the le blank with a shearing action while the front faces of these teeth will have a swaging action on the le blank. This action is reversed for the anvil teeth IB so that the front faces of these teeth enter the iile blank with a shearing action while their rear faces will have a swaging action. The result is that teeth such `as indicated in Fig. 9 at c and d will be provided for the file.

Referring again to Figs. 7 and 8, it will be noted that each die tooth I8 of the anvil die has a face I5 which is substantially perpendicular to the supported surface of the blank F and a second face I'I which slopes away from the vertical face I5 at an angle of substantially 50. Also, each die tooth 82 of the movable die 80 is similarly provided with a vertically disposed face 8| and a sloping face 83. The respective die teeth I6 and 82 are relatively positioned as shown in Fig. '7, so that when the blank F is in position resting on the die tooth I6 with their surfaces I 5 in a plane vertical to the surfaces of the blank F, at the moment the points of die teeth 82 engage the top surface of blank F the oppositely sloping faces I'I of die teeth I6 and 83 of die teeth 82 will fall substantially in common planes. The component of the thrusts of the die teeth II and 82 into the blank F as it is moved by the anvil I4 relative to the movable die is along this plane, so that the force exerted upon the blank by the respective die teeth I6 and 82 falling in these common planes is exerted in opposition and the tendency to move the blank in one direction by the die teeth I6 entering theA underside of the blank F is exactly offset by the tendency to move the blank in the opposite direction by the die teeth 82 on the movable die. The die teeth on both the anvil and the movable die cross the file blank at the same angle on both sides. The relative movement of the anvil, holding the blank relative to the movable die is, therefore, a movement of the blank relative to the-crossing die teethwhatever their angle. The complementary force exerted by the gripping of the blank between the teeth of the anvilV and ofthe movable blank taken with the movementof the two sets of die teeth relative to the faces of the blank are what cause the metal of the blank to be literally pushed forward against the vertical faces l and 8| of the crossing die teeth to cause the resulting iile teeth formed in the blank to be lifted` ina sharp edge, as clearly shown in` Fig. 9. Y

By referring to Fig. 4, it will be seen that the teethiG extend obliquely across the. face of the die Ul.V The teeth 82 extend obliquely in the same direction across the face of the die 80vso that the upper surface of the le blank is provided with teeth c as indicatedin Fig. 11. It is obvious that the lowersurfacejof the blank will have its teeth d extending parallel with the, teeth c. Now when the blank is turned over andagain acted upon `by f the dies, the Obliquity of the teeth for upper and lower surfaces of the blank will'be reversed and both surfaces will have criss-cross teeth as shown in Fig. 12, the appearance of the completed ile teeth being shown in longitudinal section in Fig. 10. Y

However, before the le blank is turned over during the forming operation, it has been found desirable in making fine iiles'to provide the dies with teeth which are spaced from each other two or more times the distance which the teeth of the file are to Abe spaced from 'each other, When the teeth of the dies are finely spaced, it is dinicult to form `them, properly so -that they 'will accurately produce the teeth on the file. fore the multi-position gauge has been provided' in which the portion of the rod-like member 5S inengagement with the spring stressed portion 5l? of the gauge is provided with four faces as shown in Fig. 5 which are at different distances from the axial line of the rod and of the recess in which the rod maybe-turned. When this expedient is used, it will be understood that the dies are made to approach each other two or more times before turning over the le blank, and that the rod 53 is given rotative movement between each die action to bring the succeeding face of the rod into engagement with the member 50 of the gauge.

While for some purposes, it may not be necessary to provide die faces which are inclined out of a horizontal, I have found that such arrangement gives better results. This is because the inclination in practical application of the apparatus takes advantage of the fact that the necessary relative movement between the dies lengthwise of the le blank is lessened in proportion as the angle of the blank Aout of a horizontal is increased. While certain mechanical diiculties are encountered if this angle is made too great, I have found that the angle substantially as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 gives extremely good results.

The operation and advantages of my invention have been quite fully stated in the foregoing description. It should be mentioned however that while one face of each die tooth acts largely with a swaging action to turn up a file tooth on the blank, the other face acts with a shearing action which gives a more accurate and more finely formed tooth for the file and a longer life of the die by reducing the strain on its teeth to a minimum. By referring to Figs. l, 2 and 4, it will be seen that the extended end portions of both dies have fiat surfaces which are removed from the plane of the cutting edges of the teeth by an Thereamount slightly in excess of the depth ofthe teethA going into the4 file blank In other words, there is only' a .very slight spacebetween these fiat portions andthe blank when the teeth are in the blank to the maxi-mum depth which they go. This formation of' the end portions `of the die prevents a thin metal blank from curling at the ends when the teeth bite into the blank. As previously explained, the iileblank is carried' backwardly substantially vonly half as far asthe anvil die moves backwardly when the die teeth are acting upon the blank. The resilience'of the spring 54 permits this excess of. movement of the, die over that of the blank. By referring to Figs, 1 and2, it will be understoodl that the sidel gauge ,60 also serves as a safety guard for the iingerscf the operator who stands at the rear ofthe machine and positions the file Yblanks between the dies to be operated upon. The construction of a file with a surfaceprovided with two setsl ofn teeth withthe teeth of one'set inclined forwardlyzand the teeth of the other set inclined'backwardly 'and the teeth of the two setsv intermingled or interspersed, results in providinga file which will makea clean cut -at all points of its forward and backward movement and which will cut more speedily than is the case with files now commonly inv use, and especially thosemade for fingernail files.

I- claim:

1. In a die apparatus for making iiles,` the combination of a reciprocating diey provided with a series of forming teeth, ananvil die provided with a series of similar teeth, means for mounting saidk anvilrdie for lateral movement, 'means for positioning a file blank between said Adies whereby the movement of saidi reciprocating die in one `direction causes said teeth to bite-into oppcsite surfaces of'said blank, and means operated by said reciprocating die for vcausing lateral movement of said'V anvil vdie lengthwise of the blank when said teeth are in the blank.

2. In af die apparatus for making les, the combination of two coacting dies each provided with a series of forming teeth, means for posil tioning a rile blank between said dies, means whereby said dies may be made to approach Veach other to cause said teeth to bite into opposite surfaces of said blank, and means for causing said dies to have relative movement lengthwise of the blank when said teeth are in the blank, the end portions of said dies having flat surfaces which are removed from the plane of the cutting edges of the teeth by an amount slightly in excess of the depth which the teeth go into the blank whereby the ends of the blank are prevented from curling when the teeth bite into the blank.

3. In a die apparatus for making files, the` combination of a die provided with a series of forming teeth, a stop gauge resiliently carried by said die for positioning a file blank in proximity to said die, means for causing said teeth to bite into said blank, and means for causing said blank and die to have relative movement lengthwise of the blank when said teeth are in the blank, the resilience of said stop gauge permitting said relative movement.

4. In a die apparatus for making les, the combination of a reciprocating die provided with a series of forming teeth, an anvil die provided with a series of reversely arranged teeth, a stop gauge resiliently carried by said anvil die for positioning a file blank between said dies Whereby the movement of said reciprocating die in one direction causes said teeth to bite into opposite surfaces of said blank, and means for causing said anvil die to have movement lengthwise of the blank and said blank to simultaneously move lengthwise substantially one-half this distance when said teeth are in the blank, the resilience of said stop gauge permitting said movements.

5. Means for making files, comprising an anvil adapted to hold a file blank in position thereon, a toothed die, means to cause the le blank so held and the die to be moved relatively so that a face of the file blank will be engaged by the die to force the die teeth into the blank, and means to effect a second and positive relative movement of the blank and said die teeth along the plane of the engaged face of the blank after the teeth enter and while they are being embedded in said blank to cause upward sharpening lift to the teeth so formed on the blank.

6. Means for making files, comprising an anvil formed with a multiplicity of die teeth all extending in the same direction and sloping in one direction and adapted to hold a file blank positioned on said teeth so all said teeth cross the same, a second die spaced from the first named die formed with a multiplicity of die teeth all extending in the same direction as the anvil die teeth but having faces sloping in the opposite direction and positioned to engage a face of the file blank so as to cross the same, means to cause the anvil and die to move toward one another so that all of the die teeth of each of the respective dies will be caused to engage simultaneously the opposite faces of the file blank simultaneously to force both sets of die teeth through said opposite faces and into the body of the blank, and means to move the anvil and the file blank thereon crosswise of the extent of the die teeth as the die teeth enter and while they are being embedded in said blank to cause the engaged fronts of the die teeth to effect sharpening liftfof the respective sets of teeth so formed on opposite sides of the blank.

7. Means for making files, comprising an anvil provided with die teeth, said teeth being formed with substantially vertical and sloping faces relative to the surface of the file blank held thereon, a movable die having corresponding teeth with substantially vertical and sloping faces, said sloping faces extending in opposite directions from the sloping faces of the anvil teeth, means to move the anvil and die relatively toward one another to grip the file blank between them and simultaneously to force both sets of die teeth into opposite faces of the le blank, means to effect a second and positive relative movement of the respective sets of die teeth so as to cause the vertical planes of said respective sets to change their relative position crosswise along the faces of the file blank after the teeth enter and While they are being embedded in said blank to cause upward sharpening lift to the teeth so formed on the blank.

8. Means for making les, comprising two relatively reciprocable die members spaced from each other so as to be adapted to receive a le blank between them, each of said members being formed with sets of parallel die teeth adaptedto extend across the faces of the file blank and having substantially vertical and sloping faces relative to the faces of the file blank held between them, the edges of said die teeth and the faces of said blank lying in parallel planes oblique to the direction of relative reciprocating movement of the die members, said'sloping faces of one set of die teeth extending in opposite directions from the sloping faces of the other set of die teeth, and means to cause the members to be relatively reciprocated in said direction oblique to the planes of the die teeth edges and to the faces of the file blank, to Agrip the file blank and simultaneously to force both sets of die teeth into the opposite faces of the file blank.

EMMETI B. PERRINE. 

